STREET VOICE intends to
be a journal committed to "littérature engagée", not
to be confused with agit-prop. It hopes to provide a platform for poets,
for writers, both known and unknown. It advocates a debate on whether or
not literature can (and perhaps should be) "useful." It is dedicated
to a concept of the integrity of the author that does not see him
"serving" political ends while we would like to put in doubt an idealistic
concept of the "autonomy of the arts." We know that form matters in the
arts but we do not see it as an end in itself. Art, just as life,
is not separate from meaning, from projects - especially in today's "globalizing",
conflict-ridden world where injustice, domination and servitude abound,
perhaps more than ever. Literature and the arts can hardly remain neutral
in this historical situation. Pretending to be satisfied with purely formal
experimentation (important as it may be) is not different today from the
limitations of writers content to "talk about trees."

* * *

Writers rarely have an audience
in mind, these days, except when they address in the most cunning and commercialized
way a target group of likely customers.

Still, even while writing
for herself or himself, or an audience of one, the writer or poet may well
be a concerned individual, aware of many of the dilemmas and unsolved
questions, that is to say, the contradictions of a society she or he is
a part of.

Literature, like other arts,
may well register aspects of reality in its own ways.

It may safeguard its authenticity
and come across as both beautifully intense and clear-sighted while, at
the same time, it is not necessarily turning a blind eye to the needs of
a population.

Not pandering to an audience,
the writer may indeed take it serious.

Isn't it possible that while
taking care not to be instrumentalized by any one, literature can still
succeed to be useful, to address real (and often neglected) needs?

Perhaps they are specific
needs, rooted in the specific histories, calamities, and unsolved problems
of different societies, in the North and the South, the East and the West.

* * *

STREET VOICE advocates
an increased intercultural exchange. It advocates involvement, or engagement,while
posing the question how this can be achieved without ending up producing
empty phrases, or suggesting questionable and even discredited "solutions."

While asking authors to "reflect"
on more than form and to stick simultaneously to a necessary authenticity
and an honest regard for the "needs" of their audience,
we tend to cling to a position defending the autonomy of a debate:
about philosophy, the arts, literature.

Aware how poetry is "a world
apart," we still know and in fact emphasize that poets live in a
world of conflicts, a society that is not a phantasy.

Jane Howard J. Weidenfels
Andreas Weiland

Karen Wittstock Kim Yong-sa
Olivia McCain

* * *

STREET VOICE is
a non-commercial, non-profit internet journal set up to present contemporary
poetry as well as short prose and book reviews.

The 'lingua franca'
relied on in STREET VOICE at the moment is English but texts in other languages
are accepted, as well.We hope to create
a forum of international cultural debate.

(When STREET
VOICE was founded, we had naively hoped to find readers using our so-called,
now defunctchat
room!)

Contributions
are welcome.

Copyright of all material published in STREET VOICE
(www.street-voice.de - ISSN 1618-2146) remains with the authors respectively
creators of visual works. The name of the journal and the ISSN number were
registered with DNB.

The journal STREET VOICE (ISSN
1618-2146)
may be retrieved, stored, and made available to the public by PUBLIC
LIBRARIES and UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. We charge no fees.

Whereas authors and artists
featured in this journal retain the copyright of their respective contributions
(individual articles and images), the reproduction of STREET VOICE
in its entirety, either in printed form or as an electronic medium,
is permitted. (This requires the reproduction of all copies
and all the material included.) Though STREET VOICE is a non-commercial
journal made available free of charge, potential publishers of a reprint
are permitted to sell the reprint at a modest price. We expect no fees
or other payments in this case.